Motorist on Topanga Canyon Blvd. Shot

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on Saturday were investigating the Friday night shooting of a motorist on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, apparently by someone in a passing car.

Judith Felderman, 40, of North Hollywood was in satisfactory condition Saturday at Northridge Hospital Medical Center after surgery to remove a bullet from her abdomen.

Felderman, who was driving north on Topanga Canyon near Sylvia Park, was shot just after 6 p.m. Friday when she pulled her convertible onto a turnout to put up the top, Sgt. Kevin Mauch of the Malibu sheriff’s substation said.

Felderman and a passenger, Cynthia Bissonnette of Northridge, heard what they thought was a car backfiring, and Felderman felt a sharp pain, Mauch said. The women did not realize that Felderman had been shot until they saw blood, Mauch said.

After flagging down a passing motorist who called for help, Felderman was taken to the hospital for surgery to remove a bullet that pierced the door on the driver’s side, entered her left side and lodged in her abdomen, Mauch said.

Deputies discovered the bullet hole in the door and another mark on the car that could have been a graze mark from a second bullet, Mauch said.

Felderman and Bissonnette believe the shots were fired from a passing car, which is also the “assumption . . . we’re acting under,” Mauch said.

Based on a conversation with Felderman, investigators believe the shooting was random and not a case of an attacker seeking her out, Mauch said.

Mauch said officers also received a report Friday night of a window being broken in a car parked along Topanga, possibly as a result of gunfire.